S&P lifts four Qatar banks to stable view

Standard & Poor's said it revised the outlook to stable from negative on Qatar National Bank, Qatar Islamic Bank, Commercial Bank and Doha Bank, and affirmed all of the ratings on both banks.

Qatari banks have been able to absorb the initial shock of the political stalemate with limited problems, S&P explained.

While the agency said it expects an increase in credit losses in 2019, driven primarily by the real estate, construction and hospitality sectors, the impact is expected to be manageable.

S&P also said it has observed a reversal of foreign funding with outflows dropping to about $2.1 billion as of Sept. 30, from $22.1 billion at year-end 2017.

New inflows came from interbank funding, but that can be volatile in case of escalation of geopolitical risk, the agency said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
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